We already knew that here in the US, Verizon would have an exclusive for 30 days before those on AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint could grab it, but as it turns out, a lot of others in the rest of the world also had difficulty getting the game.

This led some to believe that the game was also exclusive to the US and not their country, or within their country, certain carriers had an exclusive to it. As it turns out, neither is the case, though there is an issue at hand with the distribution of the popular game.

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore took to Twitter today to address the complaints, noting:

“Any folks having trouble installing #SpartanAssualt outside the US- we're working on it, thx for info. May take a day or so to clear up.”

So there you go, you’ll just have to have some patience as Microsoft retools their servers to push out the update to all regions and countries.

I know it's just a game so there is no need to get angry, but still. Microsoft not being able to publish their own game without problems is just sad. One would think that at least with a game like Halo which is pretty much a synonym for Xbox they would do good.

I agree. This is embarrassing for MS. They hyped this game up and quashed the misunderstanding that only Verizon in the US are getting it, then they go a do this. If you are going to use the media to hype something up before it's released, then you're going to be in the spotlight for messing up the release of it.

It all smells of forgetting that a world exists outside the US again.

MS really need to up their game. They're a software house first and foremost, and if they cant launch their own software on their own operating system properly, then people really need to get their ass kicked.

My life is awesome cuz I got this game before my friends who r on those other scrub networks. That's what they get. Verizon, Nokia, and this game r awsum. Everyone wants to play but can't, but I can... Its like I'm a movie star! All I hear is peeps crying cuz they don't have Halo Spartan. Sucks to be a scrub. Get on Verizon and get a Lumia or be a baddy and cry moar!! Game is so much fun!

even hours after the 7PM EST launch you couldn't search for the game in the store/navigate the store via the phone to find the game without having a direct link. now you can search it but navigating to the games section and tapping into "Xbox Live" "New + Rising" etc. doesn't show it either. i have a lumia 928 on verizon. it also doesn't show in the verizon section of the store on my phone. most people won't find this game unless manually searching it or reading up on websites like this that directly link them to the game's page in the store. sloppy execution on this launch. mine installed fine with a direct link to the game's page. game is awesome!

Like the game so far, only complaint I have is character movement...its not very "continuous" like other top-down shooters I've played. It has too much "snap-to" in a given direction. Other than that, its good so far.

Runs great on my phone...
But, despite the fact that it heats up my 928 pretty fast, I also would love to see Microsoft adding 720p graphics (or cut scene), because the words and the background picture look so blurry that makes me think: why WP needs a 1080p screen (quad-core as well) if there is no app that use it? And yet they still stuck on the 480p resolution?
$6.99 just doesn't seems to worth it, even MC4 runs smooth with 720p graphics.
So yeah, I don't really appreciate what I got today. :(

Played till midnight on the RT. Good game with very good keyboard controls but still looking forward to upcoming xbox controler support. Game links to supporting comic with backstory on Commander Palmer and the new Spartans.

You know, if they had just not bothered doing the exclusive thing in the first place...because I bet this is where the issue is coming from.
Having the app store respond to what network you are using is horseshit.
iOS doesn't do this. You can use iOS devices all day long and get any app you want regardless of the carrier you are on, so why does MS feel the need to cather to exclusivity bullshit especially when Verizon isn't advertising their exclusive rights like they should be? any answer to that?

I just find the whole idea absurd for anything that involves exclusive content. You are willingly telling a larger portion of your customer base to screw off just because they didn't pick the one carrier who paid the most money? Does exclusive content ever really work in the long run? I'd wager more people just lose interest after a week or so, MAYBE they come back but the sales tend to be better when 1. advertising occurs and 2. everyone can access the content right away.

You're right. I've gotten used to being able to download any app I want regardless of whatever carrier I am on.
How is it right that the customers get shafted because they happened to be on another network? How is that fair to us? Because it isn't.

MS is probably doing this so carriers are getting a better feeling with WP8, so they hope to create some goodwill about the platform and the carriers start to promote it more..? Something like that? Bet Apple would've done the same if they had to climb as much as MS needs to.

Try to get some goodwill with the carriers by giving them exclusives and maybe, just maybe they will promote a WP8 device sooner then an iPhone. I guess.

What? Carriers are limiting what phone you get, for instance you can't get the iPhone on every carrier, and when you can, the carrier has to spend an arm and YOUR leg to get. So what is worse, an app being exclusive for 30 days or a phone being exclusive for 30 months?

What's silly is that Verizon didn't develop or even pay to develop for this app to come to the platform. This is Microsoft's game and thus should be available to their entire Windows Phone customer base. We should all be out in the streets showing off Halo while there is at least a little bit of attention on the launch of the game. THAT would be leveraging the XBox and Halo brands to help lift Windows Phone. This is doing a great job of "not so much".

I don't have any idea how much (or even IF) Verizon paid. I do know that Microsoft doesn't need the money in exchange for such a short sighted move. This is arguably the biggest differentiating game/app that Windows Phone has. It should have been met with a big campaign and massive push on all fronts. Don't get me wrong, I can get the game w/out waiting with either simple proxy spoofing or using my friend's Verizon SIM, but this isn't about ME; It's about what I see as mismanaging what could have been a source of exposure and growth. Just my opinion, though.

The real problem is that you have to have a little more than 3x the size of the thing in order to install it. I had to delete a bunch of music until I had 2.4GB free, to install a 691 MB app. That's pretty poor.

Only about a 1/3rd through it. Definitely looks and sounds like Halo. Aiming is a bit tricky while manning turrets. My 8X does get hot, and sometimes there are frame rate issues. Would be nice to play it on a larger screen but its not worth buying twice (even though the first one I bought with Bing credits).